Can a lawyer answer listeners' individual legal questions on a radio program?
Oklahoma Bar Ethics Opinion 12: Answering Listeners' Legal Questions on the Radio
Short answer: The Board of Governors concluded that a lawyer who, on a radio program, answered listeners' inquiries by advising them about their individual rights violated the spirit of Rule 42, whether or not he was paid, while a lawyer could still discuss legal subjects in the abstract or give the public general legal information on the air.
Disclaimer: This is an advisory ethics opinion. Advisory opinions are not binding; they interpret the Oklahoma Bar Association's rules of professional conduct and are persuasive authority. This summary is for research purposes only and is not legal advice. Verify current rules before acting on any specific guidance.
About this page: The plain-English summary and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official opinion. The opinion text is reproduced at the bottom; the official source (linked) controls.
Plain-English summary
The Board of Governors received a complaint that a bar member who was an assistant county attorney had been answering legal inquiries over a radio station, the inquiries apparently having been mailed in by listeners as letters and referred to him for answer. The complainant suggested the conduct violated the spirit of the rules even though the rule on its face addressed newspapers rather than radio.
The Board concluded that if the responses purported to advise the inquirers about their individual rights, the conduct violated the spirit of Rule 42 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which provided that a lawyer may write articles giving information upon the law but should not accept employment from such publications to advise inquirers about their individual rights. The Board added that this was true whether or not the attorney received compensation from the radio station, and that the attorney should desist, with the observation that if the advice on individual rights was given as a matter of charity it should be given privately.
The Board was careful to limit its conclusion: a lawyer may, with propriety, deliver addresses over the radio discussing legal subjects in the abstract, or give the public general information on a legal subject as a matter of public interest.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1931, decades before Oklahoma replaced its original Rules of Professional Conduct (patterned on the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics) with the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct (adopted 1988) and the later Ethics 2000 revisions. The rule number cited here, Rule 42, belongs to that superseded canon-era code and does not correspond to the current Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct. Subsequent rule amendments and later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Could a lawyer answer listeners' individual legal questions on the radio?
A: The opinion concluded that doing so violated the spirit of Rule 42 if the answers purported to advise listeners about their individual rights, whether or not the lawyer was paid.
Q: Could a lawyer talk about the law on the radio at all?
A: Yes. The opinion concluded that a lawyer could deliver radio addresses discussing legal subjects in the abstract or give the public general legal information as a matter of public interest.
Q: Did it matter whether the lawyer was paid by the station?
A: No. The opinion stated the conclusion held without reference to whether the attorney received compensation from the radio station.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied Rule 42 of the then-current Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct, which permitted a lawyer to write articles giving information on the law but forbade accepting employment to advise inquirers about their individual rights. Although Rule 42 by its terms addressed newspapers, the Board read it to reach the same conduct conducted by radio. The distinction the opinion drew between giving the public general legal information and advising individuals about their particular rights corresponds in current practice to the line between legal information and legal advice, though the opinion predates the Model Rules.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Rule 42 (1929 Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct): a lawyer may write articles giving information on the law but should not accept employment to advise inquirers about their individual rights.
See also
- CA Op. 2003-164: Radio Call-In Show Attorney Duties
- TX Ethics Op. 489: Law Firm Seminars for the Public
Source
- Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-12/
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Adopted November 20, 1931
The Board of Governors is in receipt of the following communication:
"A matter has come to my attention upon which I think I have a duty as a member of the bar to register a complaint with the Board of Governors.
A short time ago, I heard one ………… (a member of the bar who happens to be an assistant county attorney) answering legal inquiries over Radio Station …………. These inquiries were undoubtedly made in the form of letters addressed to the station and referred to his attention for answer.
I glanced over the Rules of Professional Conduct and it seems that the conduct of this individual is in violation of rule No. 37 and also rule No. 42. Rule 42 seems to apply to broadcasting information through the medium of newspapers. The instrumentality employed in the instant case happens to be the radio and although that particular method of disseminating information is not covered by the rule, nevertheless I think the practice is in violation of the spirit of the rule.
As you know I am not engaged in the general practice of law. I make this complaint because I feel it is my duty to call the situation to the attention of the Board of Governors. I wish, therefore, you would have this matter referred to the proper committee which handles these matters, in order that an investigation may be made. I do not know that any rules of conduct are actually being violated but the circumstances on their face have a suspicious appearance."
The Board of Governors is of the opinion that if the responses to the inquiries purport to advise the inquirers in respect to their individual rights the conduct of the attorney referred to is in violation of the spirit of Rule 42 of the Rules of Professional Conduct which provides:
"A lawyer may with propriety write articles for publication in which he gives information upon the law; but he should not accept employment from such publications to advise inquirers in respect to their individual rights."
and this is true without reference to whether or not the attorney receives compensation from the radio station.
It is the opinion of the Board of Governors that the attorney in question should desist from a course of conduct inconsistent with this opinion, with the observation that if the advice in respect to the individual rights of the inquirers is given as a matter of charity, such advice be given in a private manner.
It is not to be understood by the foregoing that a lawyer may not with propriety deliver addresses over the radio in which he discusses legal subjects in the abstract, or gives information to the public in general upon a legal subject as a matter of public interest.